Posted: May 03, 2014

By Rebecca Sherdley

Doctor Elizabeth Kinston had post-natal depression and was being plagued by “irrational” thoughts when she sparked a nationwide search after going missing from her Beeston home.

The new mum believed her house and computers were bugged and thought a neighbour was spying on her, an inquest into her death heard.

The 37-year-old, who was on maternity leave from her job as a GP at Moir Medical Centre, in Long Eaton, had been suffering from depression and anxiety following the birth of her second daughter Elise.

Dr Kinston’s body was found in a meadow near Enterprise Way, off Queen’s Drive, Dunkirk, two weeks after her disappearance.

She had told her own doctor that she had been struggling to sleep, her mood was low and she had suicidal thoughts.

On Friday, November 1, last year. the mother-of-two, who had given birth to Elise in January, left her car in Broadmarsh shopping centre’s car park and walked away from the city.

But the inquest, at Nottingham Coroner’s Court yesterday, heard there was no evidence that she had any intention to take her own life.

Her death was caused by “mixed drug toxicity” of a combination of prescribed drugs, including a type of anti-depressant and a painkiller.

A narrative verdict was recorded by Coroner Mairin Casey.

She said that on the day before she went missing, Dr Kinston had “set a trap for a neighbour” using a video app on her mobile phone and had put tape on a door at her home in Park Road to see if it had been opened.

The doctor went to see her GP the following day – the same day she went missing – but did not reveal her more severe thoughts.

The coroner said: “She did not mention any of her fears may be irrational and disproportionate. A care plan was discussed and was to be reviewed.

“At the time of her disappearance, Elizabeth had been harbouring thoughts that were irrational and most likely explain her bizarre behaviour when she left home and drove to the Broadmarsh centre.

“It was clear she may have been concerned that she was being followed. At various times, she changed her clothing.

“There is no further evidence she was alive after November 1, 2013.”

Toxicology results revealed prescribed drugs, including an anti-depressant and a pain-killer, were present, which have central nervous system depressive effects.

The coroner said it was not possible for her to determine what Dr Kinston’s intention was from when she left home to when she was found.

She was satisfied that Dr Kinston’s GP and a cognitive behaviour therapist she visited had taken reasonable decisions.